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Amy Bounds, Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.
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Nov. 25—The Boulder County commissioners this week agreed to provide a $1.1 million forgivable loan to help residents buy Lafayette's Mountain View Mobile Home Park, preserving the manufactured community's affordability.

The mobile home park is a 5.86-acre community with 34 units on the southeast corner of East Cleveland Street and South Burlington Avenue.

"We are thrilled to announce this funding source to support more affordable housing options in Boulder County," Commissioner Claire Levy wrote in a news release. "Boulder County values the role of mobile home park communities in maintaining affordable housing opportunities, and we know it takes a lot of cooperation from mobile home park residents to organize and move towards housing stability."

After Mountain View's owner advised residents of the intent to sell the property in September 2022, residents partnered with Thistle, a nonprofit affordable housing organization, to form the La Luna Community Cooperative. A co-op allows residents to collectively own and maintain property, create rules and regulations, and regulate rent.

With a co-op in place, the residents began negotiating with the property owner to buy the land and working to secure funding.

Most of the co-op's financing to buy the property is coming from grants and low-interest loans that lower the total cost of purchasing the park. Along with Boulder County, the partnership includes Thistle, Together Colorado, the city of Lafayette and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs.

In December 2022, the Lafayette City Council also agreed to provide an interest-free, $495,000 loan to La Luna Community Cooperative toward the purchase.

Along with transitioning the community to resident ownership, the county's financial commitment is expected to help keep lot rentals affordable, including for seniors on fixed incomes.

"It's like a miracle of God that we are going to be able to keep our homes," LaVern Shafer, La Luna Cooperative board resident, said in the news release.

Investing in mobile home parks is part of the county's strategy to address affordable housing needs. The Boulder County commissioners in 2022 approved a community recommendation to allocate $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act relief money to create a fund to help residents buy mobile home parks from their outside owners.

Along with helping residents purchase parks, the money can be used for major infrastructure improvements for resident-owned parks or parks whose landlords commit to long-term affordability. Park residents also can apply for money for home repair projects.

The Colorado Legislature In June 2020 passed a law that provides mobile home park residents with the right to purchase their park, if the landlord intends to sell it or change its use. The goal is to support mobile home park residents, who often face rent increases and evictions when the park is sold to a new owner.